As Americans tuck into their Thanksgiving dinners, Chinese internet users are also sending messages of gratitude online.

Thanksgiving was listed on Thursday as the hottest search word on Sina Weibo, the Chinese microblogging platform, which garnered over 22m posts under a theme to encourage bloggers to say “Xie Xie”. Read more

The once-a-year Singles Day in China is becoming a big event for both online shoppers and retailers, with some of the bigger sites such as those run by Alibaba offering 50 per cent off and seeing growth in sales explode.

The alternative to Valentine’s Day, which was started among Chinese college students and held on November 11 (as a numerical pun of four single digits) has now become mainstream – and very big. It is also causing something of a challenge for couriers and delivery companies in the mad rush. Read more

China is speeding up tax reforms to boost its weak service sector after in which the system has been skewed in favour of the country’s manufacturing industry.

Under the current taxation system, the country’s service sector pays business tax of 3-20 per cent on sales, which represents a heavier tax burden than faced by the manufacturing sector, which pays value added tax of 13-17 per cent on gross profit. From September 1, things will be different. Read more

China is heading for a record year for outbound M&A as more buying opportunities emerge in Europe and US amid the economic slowdown.

Outbound deal values have tripled in the first half of 2012, according to research released by PricewaterhouseCoopers in Hong Kong on Tuesday. North American and European companies are the favourites for Chinese buyers for their head-start in technology and energy resources, according to the report. Read more

China’s overall GDP figures give reason enough to worry about its economic slowdown (or Chindown). But the story is even more worrying at a local level.

In Dongguan, a manufacturing hub in Guangdong province, GDP growth in the first half of this year hit a three year low. Its expansion of just 2.5 per cent shows the pain China factories are feeling as the engine driving the world’s second biggest economy begins to misfire. Read more